Former General Is Undead Knight

Volume 2, Chapter 41: Duel of Barreira City①

「Let me to ask you one last time, are you really not going to back down?」

Holding his greatsword, Lambert asked this of Robin Hood, who was riding on the back of his horse.

Robin Hood smiled lightly upon hearing that question.

「At this point, my hands have already been dyed black with too much blood from my victims. I have no intention of acting like a good man at this point.」

After his comrades were executed due to the riot that involved the ogre king, Robin Hood escaped the city and used every single method at his disposal—no matter how sly or cruel—to find the mastermind who moved the group who wrecked his plan.

His infamy was definitely not because of Eunos’ plan.

He was originally a man who truly cared for his comrades. Thus, as retribution for their unjust deaths, he kept living on to avenge them.

And yet, despite all the atrocities that he committed, the person himself was aware that he was a sinner and wouldn’t mind even if he was executed as one after he fulfilled his goal.

Now that he achieved his goal, he had no intention of escaping anymore.

「Moreover… My blood boiled over after I saw your swordcraft back in the forest. It won’t calm down unless I fight you, Armored Man.」

Robin Hood spoke as a light smile formed on his lips.

Upon hearing that, Lambert stared silently into Robin Hood’s eyes for a while.

And then, he pulled out his greatsword from its sheath, readying it as he faced Robin Hood.

「Fine, I, the last traitor of the Eight Countries Unification War and also one of the Four Demon Generals, Lambert De La Croix, accept your challenge. 」

Robin Hood’s expression softened a bit upon hearing such a self-depreciating remark from Lambert.

And then, he shifted his attention to Nightmare, the headless horse who was standing a little bit away from Lambert.

「I see undead, huh, but still… for a big shot like you to come out… Well, after witnessing your skill, I guess I have no choice but to accept the fact that you’re not lying. But a traitor, huh. As far as I can see, you’re the furthest away from that word.」

Robin Hood nocked his arrow from the back of his horse, aiming at Lambert.

「Ex-guild master of the former strongest guild in Barreira City, 『Bow of Blue Sky』, the worst berserker, War God Robin Hood, Robin Hood Nogford. Let’s enjoy the fight, ghost knight from the distant past.」

He sang a piece of prose for Lambert.

The moment he finished speaking, Seraph, his beloved horse, sprinted toward Lambert.

「My speciality is equestrian archery! You seem to be unable to use your horse, but no hard feelings, right?!」

Robin Hood fired his arrows one after another while riding on horseback.

Seraph ran in a circle, keeping a constant distance from Lambert who was right in the center of the circle.

‘These movements—is he from the Rabul tribe?’

The arrows rained incessantly as he moved in a circle as if to keep Lambert in check.

It was a technique that could only be used when a superhuman archer named Robin Hood worked in tandem with the finest horse named Seraph. It was called 『Circular Prison Arrow』.

『Circular Prison Arrow』 was Rabul’s equestrian archery skill. The Rabul tribe was a legendary hunting tribe even back in the Eight Countries Unification War.

The Rabul tribe was rare in that its people could travel calmly along the national borders of the Worimia continent in an era when each country was raising their vigilance to each other; they were considered an insane tribe back then.

Since they often caused problems with various soldiers of many countries, they devised an equestrian archery skill which allowed them to win against an enemy with superior numbers.

The hero of Rabul was a fearsome man who killed a hundred men by himself.

In the end, their tribe should have been exterminated by a country right before the end of the war, effectively eliminating them to the last man.

「I see, you have Rabul’s blood in you, huh.」

Lambert swung his greatsword.

His swing destroyed all the incoming arrows.

「So you know of that name, hm!」

「I met them once before on the battlefield. Befitting of their name, they were really powerful. I’ve often heard them sing praises of Rabul’s hero for defeating a hundred men.」

「HA! It’s an honor to hear you give such praise to my tribe!」

Although Robin Hood had no idea how much truth there was in Lambert’s words, he couldn’t help but be happy upon hearing his tribe being given such high praise.

Robin Hood, who judged that none of his attacks would work if he kept firing his arrows from that distance, finally stopped nocking his arrows.

He decided to close the distance bit-by-bit as Seraph ran in a circle around Lambert.

When there was only five hein left between them, Robin Hood’s hand started to move again.

He moved the moment he fired his arrow; each arrow was fired from a completely different angle. He kept firing arrows as Seraph kept moving nonstop.

「『Heavy Presence Arrow』… do you like it? It’s as if you fought few people at once, right?!」

「Single-handedly killing a hundred by himself is an impressive record, indeed. But I’ve killed three hundred in a battle.」

Lambert raised his greatsword, striking down every single arrow that was fired from three different directions.

As soon as he saw Lambert’s stance, Robin Hood continued his assault.

He somehow attacked Lambert in a circle while maintaining a constant, five-hein distance between them as if he had guessed Lambert’s range.

‘Impossible… that greatsword is just around two hein, right? It’s not like he is aiming for me by raising his sword. Well, I think it’s okay to get closer as long as I can react to his attacks. And now, I need to look for the most ideal range to take him down…’

But then, Robin Hood’s partner, Seraph stepped back.

It leapt to the side, opening some distance between them and Lambert.

「Hey, what happened, Seraph… are you getting pressured by him!」

In the next moment, a huge blade passed right beside Robin Hood, sending a spray of soil due to the wind pressure created by the swinging force.

Raising his greatsword overhead, Lambert had already closed the distance between them in one swift dash.

Even Robin Hood, who literally saw everything in slow motion, couldn’t believe what he saw when Lambert swung his greatsword.

And again, the blade that was swung at god-like speed chased after Seraph, who kept moving away from Lambert.

「H-HAHAHAHAHA! JUST HOW MUCH OF AN IRREGULAR MONSTER ARE YOU?!」

Seraph escaped from Lambert’s attack range.

Seraph let out a loud cry as if asking its master what to do next.

「Sure, right… always running away is so uncool.」

Seraph nodded as if it understood what its master meant.

Seraph then turned around, abandoning the safest option and went straight toward Lambert.

「HERE I COME, LAMBERT!!」

Lambert easily struck down the three arrows that were fired by Robin Hood from the front.

Seraph sprinted until right before it entered Lambert’s range, and then it stamped on the ground, leaping high in the air.

Thus, a hail of arrows rained down on Lambert from the air.

「Behold, 『Heavenly Circular Prison Arrow』!」

The arrows fell upon Lambert from slightly above his forehead, approaching the crown of his head and slightly slanting down on the back of his head.

「Heh.」

Lambert twisted his body to dodge the hail of arrows.

Upon landing, Seraph turned around immediately and headed toward Lambert again.

「As expected, that kind of attack is far from enough to even leave a scratch on him…」

Robin Hood readied his bow again. He was simply astonished upon witnessing just how easily Lambert dodged the former’s extremely complex attack.

「It wasn’t a bad attack.」

「It’s such an honour to receive praise from the Legendary Lambert himself!」

Thus, Seraph sprinted toward Lambert again with Robin Hood on its back, leaping high above Lambert just like before.